About the job

Application Closing Date: 12/11/2022

To Submit Your Application:

Interested candidates should submit their CV and an expression of interest to [email protected]

The subject line of the email should be "STC - Digital Transformation Unit Technical Coordinator". Only successful candidates will be contacted.

If you have any questions, please, do not hesitate to reach out to the same email address.

Background

The Government of Kosovo (GoK) recognizes ICT development as a priority to enable sustained economic growth and improve public services. The enabling environment exists for opening new channels of communication and improving the transparency and accountability of public service provision, by building upon the existing foundations of countrywide ICT infrastructure, internet penetration and digital literacy. An Open Data Charter was approved in 2016 and a national portal for open data established, in addition to the government’s State Services Portal.

As a horizontal agenda supporting the National Development Strategy (NDS) 2030, the Digital Agenda 2030 lays out the cross-sectoral government strategy that defines the policy and priorities for Kosovo to support the digital transformation of the economy and the society. The digitalization of government is included as Strategic Objective #3 (SO3). In partnership with the e-Governance Academy of Estonia, the GoK is currently in the process of preparing the new e-Government strategy and Action Plan. Both documents are expected to be drafted in Q4 2022.

Coordination on the digital governance agenda has been a particular challenge. Coordination is needed on the agenda both within Government and with development partners. There are several agencies which have the mandate for and focus on process reengineering and administrative reforms including supporting digital governance infrastructure. In the recent past, the Ministry of Public Administration (MoPA) has had the legal authority to take forward the digital governance and e-services agenda, and hosted some of the critical institutions, including the Agency for Information Society (AIS) and the State Data Center (SDC). Currently, the Office of the Prime Minister is directly engaged in leading the Digital Governance Strategy, which would also include engagement with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) (for business services), Ministry of Finance (MoF), and other key ministries and agencies that are also major stakeholders.

The World Bank has been directly engaged as a partner supporting the GoK reforms and also has an additional convening role to help coordination among development partners. The World Bank has been targeting reductions in the administrative burden of business inspections in Kosovo through the Competitiveness and Export Readiness Project (P152881). There are other World Bank projects that are currently under implementation or have recently closed (e.g., in the health sector), which supported development of IT-enabled governance and management systems for services. Engagement with several different development partners, as currently undertaken, can further a piecemeal approach or possible duplication; instead, the opportunity exists for a more coordinated approach for the Government also with key external partners where the Bank has a relevant convening role.

Given this current context, there is significant room to support the GoK on a more holistic enabling framework and reform plan for simplifications to administrative services for citizens and businesses. Currently, the GoK and the World Bank team are preparing a project, “Strengthening Digital Governance for Service Delivery (P178162)”, which aims to improve the quality of, and user access to selected public administrative services. The project builds upon recent World Bank advisory support to digital governance and service delivery and advances in connectivity under the “Kosovo Digital Economy (KODE) project (P164188).” Additionally, the Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) grant with the support of the Government of Japan was recently awarded to Kosovo. The Grant aims to provide advisory and analytical support to the GoK for ICT infrastructure management to underpin the digital transformation of the public sector and the digitalization of government services, which will feed into the above-mentioned upcoming project.

The GoK will acquire advisory support services from a qualified individual consultant (the Consultant) for the technical coordination of digital transformation initiatives.

Objectives of the Assignment

The objective of this assignment is to support the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) during and after the establishment of the Digital Transformation Unit (DTU) for technical coordination of digital government initiatives led by the ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).

Scope of Work/Main Tasks

During this engagement the Consultant is expected to carry out the following tasks:

• monitor the implementation and results of the digital government investments led by the MDAs;
• assist the DTU in the coordination planned and ongoing digital government projects (digital skills, process improvements, innovation, service delivery channels, core government systems, shared platforms, ICT infrastructure, etc.);
• identify the needs for improving interoperability and interconnectivity of existing / new shared platforms to support the whole-of-government approach;
• assist in monitoring the spending on digital government initiatives;
• periodically evaluate the risks from technical perspective and suggest proper actions to prevent or minimize the risks;
• closely collaborate with the other technical coordinators from the MDAs;
• present the findings of the above-mentioned activities to the GoK and World Bank team; and
• perform any other task deemed necessary for the successful accomplishment of the assignment objective.

Timing

The duration of the contract is one hundred twenty (120) working days, during which the consultant will provide onsite and remote support. The Consultant is expected to start working on this assignment in January 2023 and complete the tasks listed below by June 30, 2023 with the possible 2-3 years extension pending project approval.

Reporting and Schedule of Deliverables

The Consultant shall prepare:

• an inception report with the working plan and the activities to be performed, within 10 working days from the starting date;
• monthly progress reports;
• monthly progress updates and presentations, when needed, be submitted to the World Bank team; and
• a final assignment report.

The reports must be submitted in English language in electronic format.

Reporting Requirements

The Consultant will report to Ana Bellver, Lead Governance Specialist, Shomikho Raha, Senior Public Sector Specialist, and Asami Okahashi, Governance Specialist. S/He will be a core part of the World Bank task team engaged with the GoK in the identification and early preparation process of the new operation over the assignment period. The Consultant shall submit all reports to the World Bank team.

Resources

The Consultant shall be home based and potentially also work in the government office when necessary during the assignment with the possible field mission(s) to be further discussed.

Qualifications

The consultant should have the following qualifications:

• Advanced degree (post-graduate) in Computer Science, Engineering, Public Finance, Business Administration, or a similar field relevant for the assignment;
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in IT, preferably in the fields of digital governance and service delivery reforms;
• Specific knowledge in development and operation of information systems, and assessment of core government systems, service delivery channels and ICT infrastructure;
• Prior experience in the coordination and implementation of activities related to the digital government reforms or large-scale ICT projects by governments (e.g., digital governance strategy, shared digital platforms, data centers, cloud-based systems, etc.);
• Prior experience working with data sharing and interoperability issues between public registries is an advantage;
• Solid contextual knowledge of the Kosova public sector;
• Good inter-relational skills and ability to interact with an international team of experts and government officials at all levels; and
• Excellent writing and presentation skills in English.